The sweeping Juggernaut
by Dante23-42000
Summary: FFX, DMC, The Dark Tower, Chaos Legion, Alien, and Dune crossover. Rated PG 13... for now. Read and Review and tell me if you like, if you don't. and if I should change the rating.
1. The Interrogation

_As I may or may not of mentioned, I own nothing except the idea for bringing all such characters together in one place. I realize that it is copyrighted, but I am too damned lazy to add this on every chapter, so this is the only one._

Chapter 1: The Interrogation

"Where is she?" The man in the mask asked. Tidus lifted his head and looked around. He was in a locked room with a table and a tall masked man. On the table lay a cloth with several silver devices consisting of forceps, scalpels, iron rods with sharpened ends, and several syringes. Against the wall lay two fully automatic rifles, most likely standard issue M-16's. He then realized that he was in a chair with leather straps holding down his arms and legs. Tidus peered into the mask and said in a defiant tone, "Who?"

The man roared in rage as his fist came down on Tidus' face breaking his nose and cutting the skin on his cheek. Blood rolled down into his mouth. Tidus sneered up at the masked man and smiled as his blood began to fill his mouth. "BASTARD!!" Tidus screamed in sudden rage. The man flinched backwards in fear. When Tidus didn't make any other movements, the man stood up straight and calmly said, "Are you done?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now where is she?"

"I don't know who the hell you are talking about."

"Rikku." A man that just entered the room from the door behind Tidus said,

"I don't know. She slept with me in my room and was gone before I awoke." The second man walked out in front of Tidus. He wore no hood, and had dark eyes and brown hair. "Liar." He said as he grabbed Tidus' thumb. In his other hand was a pair of prongs. He clasped the prongs around his thumbnail. Tidus braced himself for the pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!!!! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!! I ALREADY TOLD YOU, I DON'T KNOW SHIT!!!!!!!!!" Tidus screamed as the pain shot up through his arm. The second man held his thumbnail in front of Tidus' face. "Is she worth this much to you?" Tidus hung his head, breathing hard.

"Why don't you take out a few more," The hooded man piped in. "He needs it."

"You're sick," Tidus whispered between heavy breaths as the un-hooded man took his index finger in his hand. "EAT SHIT!!!!!!" Tidus screamed right before the man pulled.

Tidus sobbed out of control as the two men left him in the room with his thoughts. "It's as if he has a bipolar disorder." The hooded man removed his hood, allowing long blonde hair to cascade down across his forehead.

"Yeah, it's as if he is kindhearted one minute, and needs to be in a high security mental hospital the next. You hungry?"

"Sure, why not. Let's go to Steak –n- Shake."

"Why do we always go there?"

"Because it is the best restaurant ever. And because I am driving."

"Uh, right. Whatever."

An hour and a half later the two men returned, neither hooded. Tidus' head lay down against his chest. They walked out in front of him and one of them slapped Tidus. He looked up, a raged and pained look in his eyes. "EAT SHIT!!!!!!! YOU BASTARDS!!!"

"Where is she?"

"I don't know." The silent man grabbed Tidus' middle finger and fit the prongs around the nail. Tidus winced but didn't utter a sound. The blood came, and Tidus did his best to try to drink it, the blood, oh the sweet, beautiful blood. But the straps separated him from it, and he sighed, pleased by the very sight of it.

"You're a sick bastard." Tidus put his head up and glared, the hate back in his eyes. "GO FUCK YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU KINKY QUEER FUCKTARD!!!!!!!!!!!"

Two hours later all the nails on Tidus' hands were gone, lying on a silver tray. Then they started with the salt. On each bloody fingertip. Tidus' screams could not be stopped… could not be more beautiful to the torturists. After a grand total of 12 minutes and 37 seconds, he sat quietly. Then they lit matches and thrust them up into the roof of his mouth. He screamed. They did it with two more matches. They stood staring at him for a second and then they both removed their hoods. They laid them on the table and the blonde grabbed Tidus' left ear and pulled on the earring, making Tidus scream in pain. "Where is she?"

"I don't know!!!!!" Tidus yelled in exasperated anguish. The man sighed and tore the earring out of his ear, tearing through his cartilage. Tidus cried out before he passed out.

While he was unconscious the two torturers discussed Tidus' fate. "I say we waste his ass. He obviously doesn't know shit."

"No, he knows."

"I say we end his pain."

"Why, is that a bit of compassion I hear little brother?"

"No, he is just giving me a headache."

"So, what does Seymour want with this girl, Rikku anyway?"

"I dunno. But he showed me a very generous paycheck. He also showed me a picture of her."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So what did she look like?"

"Like an Al Bhed Houchie."

"Ooh, an Al Bhed…"

"You horny fuck."

Tidus fluttered back to consciousness to hear them decide to use the most horrible treatment ever. Within thirty seconds he was screaming his ass of: "NO!! MAKE IT STOP!!!! I CAN'T STAND THIS COUNTRY BULLSHIT!!!!!!!! I'LL TELL YOU WHERE SHE IS!!!!!!!! I SWEAR!!!!!!" The blonde man pushed the pause button on the stereo. "And…"

"She is hiding in Besaid. Where, I don't know. Just on that island."

"Well, thank you. Now you may go free." The dark haired man injected Tidus with a tranquilizer and unlatched him from the chair to personally deliver him to his apartment


	2. Old Friends

Chapter 2: Old Friends

Tidus awoke from a terrible dream twelve hours later. He looked drowsily at his alarm clock and saw that it was around three in the afternoon. He sat up and put his head in his hands. He cried out as pain shot through his fingertips. He examined them and remembered the horrible interrogation. He picked up the phone and dialed. _Please… Please one of them be there…_ The phone began to ring.

Yuna rolled over in her queen-sized bed. She tried her best not to disturb her twin sister Lenne as she climbed over her to get to the phone. It's not as if they are lesbians or into incest, they just figured that they could save money for food or rent if they had only one bed. Yuna fumbled with the receiver and picked it up. She groggily mumbled a greeting. "Hello?"

"Yuna? I need your help."

"Tidus? I don't need this crap. You know I don't have a job and sleep all day."

"Yeah, you are lazy. But, that isn't the point. They are after Rikku. Please, meet me at the café on Third and Main."

"But, I am broke…"

"I don't give a shit. I'll buy. Bring Lenne… I guess…"

"Fine… Around four?"

"Sure."

Yuna and Lenne walked down to meet Tidus and found with a table already. Yuna sat down and Lenne followed suit. Tidus put up his hand to shake, and Yuna saw the bandages he had wrapped them in. "What happened?" Yuna asked, suddenly afraid for the man that had made her life hell. Lenne remained silent, a feat that she excelled at. Tidus pulled back his hand unshaken and sighed. "Two men tortured me to find out where Rikku was. I finally made up a lie to get them to stop."

"What did they do to you?" Tidus sighed again and told them the story of the interrogation from his perspective. Yuna cringed at the thought of making him listen to country music. _Then again… He did… no, I can't wish that on anyone._ They all ordered a cup of coffee and Yuna said, "That is all great, but why did you want to speak with me?"

"You aren't too bright, are you?" Lenne cracked a smile at this. "I mean, they obviously know where I live. When they find out that I lied, they will come after me. Again. I need somewhere to stay…"

"No."

"But-"

"Hear him out, Yuna." Lenne said, for the first time. Then it was Yuna's time to say: "But-"

"I have a job. I can pay for part of the rent, my own meals, and I can help support your… habit." Lenne stared daggers into Yuna, and asked, "What the hell is he talking about?"

Yuna sighed. "I… am addicted to… a subtle form of opium. It won't show up on a drug test. It's like the illegal equivalent of light cigs. Except… an injection method." Lenne gasped and looked away.

"Tidus, you can come. But only if you-" Lenne cut her off. "Only if you do **not** pay for her drugs." Tidus nodded and reached into his pocket to pay for their coffee.


	3. War Within

Chapter 3: War Within

Tidus picked up a duffle bag from under the table and Walked back to the apartment with them. In the elevator of their apartment building, Yuna kept glancing over at Tidus. When the elevator reached their floor Yuna pushed Tidus back against the wall and gestured for Lenne to go ahead. The door closed and Yuna pushed the button to make them stay where they were. Tidus sighed. "What do you want?"

""How? How the hell did you know…?" Yuna's voice broke off as Tidus Stepped close to her, wrapping her in a hug.

"It was obvious. I saw your… little jive you kept doing."

"J-jive?"

"Yeah from withdrawal." At this Tidus felt several tears flow into his shirt. After around ten minutes she stepped away from him and wiped her face. "Please… please help me…"

"I will."

Tidus and Yuna walked back to her apartment hand in hand. Lenne was sitting on the couch watching a movie. When they entered she looked up and saw their entwined hands. She then looked down and smiled. Tidus walked in and asked, "Where do I sleep?" Lenne and Yuna silently raised their index fingers simultaneously pointed toward an open door. Through it he could see a big bed, most likely queen sized. He walked in there to see two dressers and a door off to a bathroom. He set his duffle against a wall and Thought, _So. The three of us in one bed… this could get interesting_. The he came back to the living room. The kitchen was against one wall. Tidus sat down and asked Lenne what she was watching. "Underworld." She muttered, not removing her eyes from the screen as Kate Beckinsale fired two shots into the head of some man attacking a human. Tidus nodded and reached inconspicuously into the bowl of popcorn in her lap, also without moving his eyes from the screen. Lenne noticed and pulled the popcorn away from his outstretched fingers as he put his hand down accidentally in her lap. They looked each other in the eye and burst into laughter…

Rikku looked around as the fiends surrounded her. She jumped up, drew her blades, and did a double flip on the way down. The fiends never knew what happened. She looted their corpses and left the alley. The ruins of Zanarkind made a great hiding place. She made her way back to the abandoned building that served as her temporary home. She laid on the bedroll and began to cry as The Others began to speak. They were figments of her imagination, she had been told, and past lives said another. But they regarded her with degrading criticism. All were feminine, and all were sinister and cunning. Yet, their voices were within her head, and had occasionally helped her. One, whom the others had referred to as Reverend Mother Jessica, had been the least critical.

"_She doesn't fight like a Bene Gesserit."_

"_No, but she hasn't been trained."_ The reverend mother said to the unnamed voice.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rikku asked.

"_You are the descendant of Paul Atriedes."_

"Paul? Atriedes? You wanna fill me in?"

"I was, in life, the mistress of Leto the first. I was a Bene Gesserit. They are a clan of women regarded as witches throughout the Old Emporium. The Kwisatz Haderach, a person the Bene Gesserit had been doing breeding programs for half a millennia to achieve, was to be my grandson. We Bene Gesserit 'Witches' have many abilities, including being human lie detectors and choosing the sex of our children. We were all meant to have female children, and my daughter was to bear the God Child. But, out of love for Leto, I bore him a son and heir. My son was the Kwisatz Haderach, one generation early. Of course, the Bene Gesserits could not control him and he became the ruler of the great planet called Arakis. It was a great desert, known as Dune, no vegetation, and no water. He united the nomadic Fremen tribes and bore twins with a woman named Chani. They were preborn, gaining consciousness in Chani's womb. They could call upon the memories of their ancestors for help, as you can. His son Leto the second, took the path that his father was far too afraid to take. He literally changed into a sandworm, which was a long process of 3500 years. He began to transform Dune into a vegetated land. This destroyed the sandworms, which destroyed the spice mélange, a substance that ruled the world in those days."

Rikku sighed and fell asleep after asking them politely for silence.


	4. The Gunslinger meets the Hunter of Dark ...

Chapter 4: The Gunslinger Meets the Hunter Of Dark Blood

Dante stalked along the exterior wall of the abandoned building, pistols drawn. Suddenly a cry like a million high-pitched voices at once leapt through the air as a dot of light shone up as if through the ground. Dante watched as the Savage Golems and Abyss Goats climbed from it, bent on the destruction of The Hunter. Dante back against the wall and lifted his pistols. He squeezed the trigger several times in rapid succession as the bullets cut through the demons. He holstered the pistols and jumped up, kicking off the wall and launching himself into the thick group of approaching demons. A Savage Golem Brought down its fists, beating down Dante, making his attack useless. They surrounded him as he curled into a ball, getting ready to transform into a demonic form known as a Devil Trigger, or DT.

A sudden gunshot cut down an Abyss Goat. The demons looked around, confused. Four more shots rang out, every one of them cutting through a different Savage Golem. A final shot took out another 'Golem as the rest fled. Dante uncurled and stood up as a man approached him. The man loaded his revolver as he walked toward Dante. He spun the cylinder and dropped the weapon into the holster. Dante looked him over, seeing the two guns latched to him with two belts that crisscrossed his waist. The man put out his hand and said in a calmer-than-calm voice, "Hello Hunter. I am Roland of Gilead, the last Gunslinger of the Midwestern world." Dante put out his hand and shook this Roland's. "I'm Dante Sparda, the Demon Hunter."

Roland walked up to a wall and pulled out his knife. He carved a makeshift target and walked back to where Dante stood. "Let's see what you've got, Hunter."

Dante smirked and lifted Ivory, muzzle aimed at the target. He squeezed off three shots, and lowered his arm. Dante stepped away and let Roland step up to the place where Dante had stood. Roland lifted his revolver in his right hand and fired off three shots, all of them closer than Dante's to the middle of the…target. Dante's smirk faded and he holstered Ivory. "So. You got skill. What do you want?" Roland stared at Dante for a moment before saying: "You are destined for another life."

"Bullshit. I am destined for death."

"Yes, but not your own."

"How, How do you…"

"It doesn't matter."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Tell me about this place."

"Well, we are in a place called Zanarkind. It used to be a great city, but a creature called Sin decided to come and tear the shit out of it. That was about 1000 years ago. These ruins are all that remain. Fiends, demon-like entities inhabit this place, and most others. The world is still trying to get used to the fact that Sin is gone for good."

"When was it defeated?" Roland interrupted.

"About three years ago." Dante said. "Anyway, the world isn't… for lack of a better term, moving on very quickly."

"I come from a world moved on too far." Roland said with an almost sad look in his eyes.

"Yeah, well. This world is far from great. I had to make my guns myself."

Roland's eyes widened. "Amazing!" He all but yelled.

Little did they know, they where being watched by a pair of Al Bhed eyes. Rikku stood on the roof of a half destroyed building watching. The Reverend Mother's voice cooed instructions to her. She pulled out her knives that so resembled the cutlasseers that Lucia used…

While Dante and Roland palavered, they were suddenly silenced by an inhuman grunt behind them. They pulled out their guns and aimed all four of them at the creature, a demon that neither recognized. Suddenly they heard a scream that was more like a battle cry than anything else. A blurred image was seen falling from a roof as Rikku jumped down to assault the creature that she knew too well. The onyx colored skin of the Basilisk was impossibly tough, yet her blades cut through it with ease. Rikku jumped away as it slashed at her. Dante saw her, yet Lucia was what his mind saw. Roland opened fire as soon as Rikku was in the clear, yet Dante lowered his guns, seeing that Lucia was there. The creature flailed around as the twelve bullets erupted into its skin. It launched a rock at Dante hitting him and showing him that it was not Lucia. In rage Dante pulled his blade, Rebellion, off of his back and leapt forward, striking until the creature didn't even twitch. They faced each other and said nothing. Rikku looked at one, and then the other before speaking. "So, what are you two doin' here?"


	5. And my skin was not my own

Chapter 5: My skin was not my own

Rikku awoke, realizing where she was. The sand still stung the bottom of her feet… _Wait, where the hell am I?_ Dante rolled over on a bedroll, a few feet from her own. Roland was sitting, staring into the fire. Rikku recalled the dream. _I was running faster than the wind, on an open desert. My feet were bare, and it was night. And my skin was not my own. I was nude, and could not stop. I ran until I found it. The ancient Siech Jokurato. And my skin was not my own. _Rikku sighed at the realism.

So, you have had the first of his memories. This one is the most important.

"Reverend Mother?" Rikku says aloud, prompting a glance from Roland.

Yes. This is a memory of Leto the second. It is the beginning of his transformation.

"Transformation?"

Yes. The Golden Path. To destroy Dune and bring economic trade to a standstill. To transform into a sandworm. To be the God-Emperor of Dune.

Rikku sighed again.

You realize that you needn't speak aloud to talk to me? The others will think that you are insane. You should get some sleep. I will not speak to you again until you get some sleep and explain what you are to them. The Reverend Mother was silent.

Rikku awoke to the smell of roasting meat. Dante and Roland talked quietly while sitting around a fire. Rikku stood and walked over to where they sat and muttered a greeting. She sat by the fire, completing the triangle that they made with the fire at their center. Rikku said, "Hey guys? I-I got something to tell you."

Dante looked up with a concerned look and Roland raised an eyebrow.

"I… have memories of my ancestors. The Bene Gesserit." Dante jumped to his feet and stepped back.

"Once, when I was campaigning against the demon underworld, a portal took me to a cave in a desert. On the walls were carved the words 'The Bene Gesserits have destroyed the world.' I didn't know what they were, so I asked around."

"What are they?" Roland questioned, obviously interested.

"Witches." Dante said, lifting Ivory, aiming it at Rikku.

"No! They are… well…"

Help me Reverend Mother. How do I explain it to them? Rikku felt the presence of the Reverend Mother stir within her.

Tell them that we were seers that were prosecuted, just like the Jews.

Jews?

Yes. Ask Dante to explain it.

"Uh, well, they are more like seers that were prosecuted, just like the Jews."

Dante lowered the gun. "How do you know about the Jews?"

"I don't… the presence in my head just told me to tell you that. To ask you about them."

"Well, Judaism is the religion in which they believe in the first half of a great book they used to call the Bible. Jews believed that the second half is untrue. Christians follow it all. Jews were always prosecuted. Egypt. Hitler. Anyway, they are all gone."

_Roland looked around confused. "Jews took over our world. They drove out the king and killed all the gunslingers but me." Dante stared at him. "That is impossible… unless they are hiding, waiting for their chance to strike…" Rikku was suddenly in good spirits. "So, no one thinks that I am insane, right?"_


	6. Going on a trip

Chapter 6: Going on a trip

"So, where the hell are we going?" Tidus asked as the three of them ate breakfast. "We are going to Zanarkand." Lenne said between mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. Yuna sat staring off into space, thinking about the past. How Tidus could do such a thing. How he could… No, people do stupid things when they are drunk. "But first we are going to make a sidetrip." Yuna said.

"Where?" Tidus asked.

"I'm going to show you what happens when you are eighteen and your boyfriend is too stupid to use a rubber." Tidus looked own and said softly, "I'm sorry. I regret getting you pregnant, but I can't do shit about it. So, where does the kid live?"

"Right now, he is awaiting me to collect him from juvenile hall."

"What is his name, anyway?"

"Victor Delacrioxe."

"Delacrioxe?"

"His adoptive parents that were murdered three years ago were French."

"I see. Are we takin' him with us?"

"Yeah." Yuna said vacantly.

Sieg and Victor walked around, discussing things. "So, you will take care of her, right, Sieg?" Victor asked, gesturing at Siela.

"Of course. And Arcia."

"Good." It was about this time that a guard, tall, Ronso and hornless, walked up to them and said, "You. White haired one. You mother here get you. You leave. Yuna here."

"Yuna will never be a mother to me. My mother was killed three years ago."

The guard, Kimarhi, grabbed Victor by the arm and dragged him to the lobby where a man and two women, most likely twins, stood looking around. Victor forced himself from The Ronso's grip and walked forward. The woman with the short hair said in a soft cooing voice, "Come here, son." Victor grudgingly walked forward.

They were all in the car and driving toward the airport. They boarded an air ship and rode toward Zanarkand. The driver wouldn't go in, but dropped them off outside the ancient gates. They walked in to find several fiend corpses, many with bullet holes and sword wounds. They saw smoke bellowing from a nearby building and walked toward, unanimously deciding that that would be the best place to start. It was the place where Rikku was, but she wasn't alone. Two gruff looking men were there, both with guns and one of them also carrying a sword. Yuna ran over and hugged Rikku while the rest stood in the doorway of the ancient building. After they had exchanged names and such things, they decided that they would spend the night in Zanarkand and begin the journey the next day. Tidus and Victor weren't sure what they were talking about, but were both sure that they weren't going to like it.

"The tower holds all worlds together. All Ka are respondent to it, and all Ka are controlled by it. We, We are a Ka-Tet. A group of Ka brought together for one purpose or another. Ours is to protect the tower." Roland said in the morning while they all got ready. "Spira, Mid-World, Earth. They are only three of the countless worlds that the tower controls. We are going to stop others from controlling it. With it anyone could do anything they wanted, but they would become a tyrant. No, we must become the guards."

Yuna looked up and asked, "Why? Why us?"

"Because none of you have any other purpose."

The group trudged along through the calm lands that had once held an amusement park. Beasts roamed here and there, and in the middle of the plane a large hive erupted out of the ground. Its inhabitants had been the cause of the destruction of the amusement park, and of all of the fiends that had roamed there. Dante held his sword at the ready, not trusting the docility of the land. Rikku stumbled and they all tensed up. They came finally to the hulking building… if that is what it could be called. It was organic, no metal was used to make it, and it pulsed as if it had a heart. Dante put away his sword and pulled out his pistols. Rikku grasped her knives firmly in hand. Tidus pulled out his sword. Yuna brought out her pistols. Lenne gulped and Victor drew his huge longsword. From mysteriously camouflaged entrances suddenly came out creatures only one of them had seen before. Dante's eyes widened as the xenomorphs crawled out of the tunnels.

Dante said calmly, "They are deadly fast and intelligent. They have acid blood and the guns will be our only option. They will want to capture us alive to spawn more of them. No sword will withstand the blood, and you couldn't get that close anyway. Aim for their heads." They demonic warriors crawled cautiously closer. Dante suddenly did a roll to the left to separate himself from the others. The bullets rang out from six handguns. Dante's and Yuna's were magically loaded, so they never had to reload. Rikku threw a grenade that was dodged and run from. The demons were brutally intelligent, but they were no matches for bullets. Acid burned the ground, but was ineffectual against each other. Now the battle was to begin.


	7. A Bolt and Birth

Chapter 7 A bolt and birth

Tidus fired off a lightning bolt at one of creature's that Dante called a xenomorph. Yuna was firing at random targets. Tidus watched the bolt of lightning sting the creature, watched it back off. He ran over to wear Yuna was and yelled, "Don't just shoot. Shoot to kill. Make sure one target is dead before you target another." Yuna nodded and obeyed. Dante holstered his guns and drew his blade. Dante jumped up, did a front flip, and came down, putting all his force, weight and momentum into this single strike. He cut straight through the xenomorph's banana shaped head. The blood spewed up, but Dante was already gone, slicing through another one. He lunged at one and it dodged him, but the one behind it got slashed through. The one that was lucky enough to dodge him cried out and all the xenomorphs responded. They all surrounded Dante and the other xenomorph, arena style. The others, Rikku, Yuna, Tidus, Lenne, Victor and Roland all were ignored. They stood astonished as Dante lifted his blade and stepped into a ready stance, blade extended out, tip pointed at the xenomorph. After a about fifteen seconds, the xenomorph cried out and rushed Dante, head down and ready to tackle Dante. He dodged it and laughed, toying with it. Yuna summoned Valefor and mounted its back. It flew up and Yuna was able to watch the battle. Victor flew up and watched. The rest were left to watch from the gaps in the wall of xenomorphs. Dante rolled under a swinging muscular arm and swung his blade at the xenomorphs ribs. It didn't so much as flinch as the blade slid between two ribs and tore into its right lung. The blade began to disintegrate, and then it shattered, leaving Dante holding a hilt with about a half of an inch of blade left. "FUCK!" Dante yelled as he threw the hilt to the side.

The xenomorph jumped into the air, falling down with his claw outstretched, tearing into the skin of Dante's left arm through his coat. The demon blood gushed through and hit the ground scorching it like fire. Dante growled and jumped forward, fists beating into the creature's midsection. In his rage he didn't see the xenomorphs foot slam into his stomach, throwing him several meters back. Dante jumped up and came running at the creature. He leapt up, only to be stopped in midair as he was impaled by the creature's tail in the right shoulder, centimeters from his heart. The xenomorph lifted the shocked Dante high over his head, high enough for all of the xenomorphs and all the humans to see. Dante reached both hands into his trench coat, where in hidden pockets he grabbed onto Ifrit, the fire gauntlets that had saved him on more than one occasion. He pulled his arms out and attacked the tail, beating it with a passion that none of the entities there had ever witnessed so strongly. Hatred. The fires of Ifrit were multiplied by this hatred, and it cut through the xenomorphs tail in seconds. Dante hit the ground and tore out the end of the tail that remained stuck in his shoulder. He threw it over to the side and got into a ready stance, gantlets suddenly fluming in flames and smoke.

Dante and the xenomorph rushed at each other at impossible speeds. Dante jumped straight up and the creature passed under him. Dante freefell down and struck the demonic figure's head and back, stinging it with flames. Dante grabbed onto the remainder of the creature's tail and began to spin, spinning the creature, faster and faster. The fires burned through the tail, launching the creature so far it ran into three xenomorphs that were part of the "wall". The four began to fight and the rest seemed to come out of their trance. The rest of the xenomorphs stalked toward Dante cautiously. Forgetting all caution, as if a switch had been thrown, the creatures rushed him, clawing and tearing at him and each other. Dante crouched and let out a cry that turned eerily inhuman. A sudden flash of light erupted from between the xenomorphs, which soon enveloped them. When the light was gone and all the humans had unshielded their eyes, all that remained was the unconscious form of Dante lying between them and the hive. Or, in the case of Yuna and Victor, between them and the ground.

Yuna and Victor landed and Rikku ran out to where Dante lay. Tidus went to where Yuna was and watched as she dismissed Valefor. Victor landed and looked over at his parents as they stood staring at each other. Tidus then ran over to where Victor was and quietly asked him how he was able to fly. Victor only looked away. Tidus let the matter lie. For now.

She sat, cross-legged, watching the rain patter on the window. She closed her eyes and sighed. Rain always brought a… soothing feeling to her. Her mind twisted around the problem, squeezing itself like a sponge to find the answer. Yes, she had started this storm; no other mage could of such power. Except… No. The Juggernaut was a myth… right? She thought so, but she was feeling strange… watched. Everywhere. Lulu opened her eyes to see that nothing had changed. Nothing except… There! There it was again! What is it? NO! "WAKKA!" Lulu screamed, jumping to her feet in immense fear. Wakka came running, as usual. But, would he be here in time?

Halfway across the world, Lenne awoke screaming. Yuna was the first to wake, followed by Rikku as the screaming continued. Roland, who was already awake, was over by Lenne's side in seconds. Dante was still unconscious, to the best of their knowledge. Tidus and Victor awoke next, groggily running over to the screaming woman's bedroll. The screams slowly subsided into sobs, as she clutched the sides of her head, tears rolling onto her pillow. "No…" She cried softly as Yuna tried to comfort her twin. Roland said in a firm voice, "Step back. All of you." They did as he commanded whilst he kneeled down and pulled something off of his belt. In his hand he began to spin and twirl the bullet while Lenne watched with increasing calmness. Roland calmly asked, "What did you see?" In detail Lenne described her dream in her hypnotic state. Roland listened grimly and released her from this state with one command: sleep. Roland walked over to the others and told of the entire destruction of Besaid, along with Lulu and Wakka.

Inside the hive, several eggs began to show the crisscrossing slits in the tops that meant that hatching was going to be within the next few hours. The face huggers struggled to fight the egg, but it wouldn't release them… for a while. These creatures were to latch onto the humans and spread their species. The queen showed two very human qualities that were the basis of these emergency births. Vengeance and Sadism.


	8. Dante's Past

Chapter 8: Dante's past

Dante's mind traveled. He traveled through his memory, from his first fight with Virgil, to the defeat of Mundus, to the fall of the Despair Embodied, to his first encounter with a xenomorph, to the fight that left him in this coma. He didn't feel his wounds, which, due to his unconsciousness, were healing at human rate, which is to say, very slow for the degree of damage. A shudder past through Dante's physical body as he remembered the first time he used his Devil Trigger. Dante focused on a fight with Virgil:

Virgil slashed at me, and I was unable to dodge. Yamato cut into my shoulder and cut several nerves, paralyzing my left arm, from which I dropped Agni. In retaliation I slashed upwards with Rudra and drew Artemis, charging her as I jumped away. My nerves had already begun to heal when Artemis was ready. I fired Artemis at Virgil, pushing him backwards, burning a hole in his blue coat. By the time he regained his footing, my arm was functional and I drew Ebony and Ivory, blasting away. Virgil tried a running thrust and I jumped straight up, doing a Tornado trick where I shot downwards in spiraling directions. I hit the ground and holstered my pistols as I lunged at Virgil, shoulder colliding with his midsection. I rolled over to the side, grabbing Agni and Sheathing it next to its brother on my back. Virgil threw his blade at me, but instead of just sticking in me, it impaled me between it and the pillar behind me. Virgil laughed and I drew Rebellion. He moved like lightning to the side, grasped Rebellion and thrust it into my chest, whilst telekinetically removing Yamato and returning it to the sheath. I felt a power rising in me… filling to the brim… and as my own blade tasted my blood, I felt a change take place and my skin changed, hardening over, my senses enhanced I sent out a shockwave, knocking down Virgil who had turned away and was about to leave the room. The pillar behind me disintegrated and I felt myself hold myself up. I flexed and launched Rebellion out of my chest; spinning towards Virgil, tip disappearing into his forehead…

_And so, Dante gained the ability to Devil Trigger. Dante stirred as the face-huggers erupted from their eggs and began to start for the tunnels leading to the outside. Roland was watching at the time, and was soon to turn the Calm Lands into a shooting gallery._


	9. Watchers on the Cliff

Chapter 9: Watchers on the cliff

Four beings stood on the top of a cliff overlooking the Calm Lands; their job from the council was to ensure them safety without revealing themselves if possible. The one in charge, Jool Noret, carried a portable Holtzman shield, two maula pistols, two fully automatic submachine guns and his father's pulse sword. The two women were from Dante's past: Trish and Lucia. God knows how the council got them to work together. And the final member of the party, Seig Warhiet. They watched as Roland stared off into the night. Suddenly he stood, unholstering his revolvers. Jool tightened his grip on the pulse sword. Trish drew her pistols and Lucia drew her cutlasseers. Seig lift his soul blade, which steals the soul power of enemies for use with the Chaos Legion, a gift of the Council.

Roland stepped back, hearing the steps of the face-huggers on the ground. Then he saw them. He took aim, and then waited. Then, one came out of the tall grass and Roland shot, splattering its burning blood all over the place. Three more burst out of the tall grass and his pistols went off, smashing these. Two more erupted from the grass and he took these out and holstered his revolvers, not quite spent. Before he could react, a final one lunged at him, grasping his neck and fighting at his hands to get to his face.

"Time to move." Jool Noret said in a calm tone. The four jumped off the cliff and land on their feet, about a hundred yards from the campsite. The four raced across the grass, surrounding Roland in seconds. Then they backed up, leaving a half dead Roland and a dead face-hugger. Dante sat straight up behind them and yelled, "HILE! VIRGIL, DEATH IS YOURS!" They all looked at him as he began to grasp reality. He looked around, calm, until he saw Trish and Lucia. He reached for his pistols, not finding them; he leapt to his feet looking around. He spied his coat folded up with his holstered pistols and his assorted Devil Arms next to it. He leapt at them, grabbing Ivory and Cerberus. He lunged at Trish's throat, using Cerberus like a bludgeon. Trish dodged and stifled a laugh. Dante turned towards her and raised his pistol to her face, and collapsed. Alarmed, Roland grabbed one of Dante's arms and helped him into a half standing position and walked him over to his bedroll. "Now sleep." Roland said peacefully.

The next morning they let Dante sleep and Yuna cooked them rabbits that Roland had hunted. Jool Noret seemed to be the leader of the four, and made the introductions and stated their purpose. "The Council of Elders has decided that you are to help us with a quest to destroy a creature known only as the Juggernaut. It is shaped like a man and has the strength of a thousand. He absorbed the power of a certain dark mage known as Lulu, making him the most powerful mage of all time. He is especially skilled with a sword, prefers to use a katana and is suspected to be half demon, the brother of your sleeping companion."

"What did Virgil do wrong this time?" Dante asked, walking slowly to the breakfast circle around the fire. "Has he killed anyone lately? Raised any ethereal or evil towers from the bowels of Hell?"

"He has slaughtered four entire cities, five farms, and destroyed thirty-four road signs. And a partridge in a pear tree." Trish said as a dry attempt at humor. Noret glared at her before answering, "He killed four thousand men, seven thousand women, and twenty-four children."

"I can take care of him." Dante said in his cocky tone that often got him in trouble at bars, police stations, and once at a city hall.

"Sure… whatever. You can't even hit Trish with a weapon designed for speed." Rikku said comically.

Dante challenged Trish to a sparring match and she accepted smiling. He chose Agni and Rudra whilst she chose Sparda, the sword of Dante's father, just to smite him. They walked into the crater that Dante's Devil Trigger had caused. Roland fired a shot into the air and they all watched as the two former lovers lunged at each other. Trish did a stinger that Dante dodged and did a running attack that ended in a crosscutting move that knocked Trish back twenty feet. She leapt to her feet and raised Sparda, refusing to let him beat her. Rikku walked away for several minutes and returned with a battery-powered boom box with Audio Slave pounding away. It was "Set it off", and they both lunged when the words, "Set this fucker off!" came on. Trish leapt and did a vertical slash that Dante sidestepped. He pivot and did a double thrust into her side, which was also dodged. Trish countered directly after with a three hit combo that he had taught her, launching him to the ground, bleeding. Dante jumped up, double jumped, and did a crossed vertical slash that smashed into her left shoulder, and Dante tried to pull them out. Agni remained, trapped by a bone that Rudra had slid out of place. Trish cried in agony as Rudra slid out and Agni stayed. Dante grinned and bent Agni to the side and heard a beautiful cracking sound, and then twisted the other way. And then he used it as a lever and threw her to one side, then the other, and so forth until the bone broke and she went flying. Dante kept a firm grip on the blade, laughing as she hit the ground with a dull thud.

Trish grimaced as she stood with only one functioning arm. She pulled Sparda off of her back, and began to spin with it, one handed. She let go and it plunged into Dante's lower chest, slipping between two ribs and puncturing his lung. Dante grabbed it by the blade and pulled it out, unfazed. He threw it into the air and pulled his scimitars out and ran towards Trish with them spread out to either side of him. As he reached her, he brought them together, making a shallow cut along her stomach. He leapt and did a wall hike off of her face, flipped and caught Sparda in midair. He fell deftly to his feet before Trish hit the ground, unconscious. "THAT IS ENOUGH!" Jool Noret bellowed as Rikku killed the music. Lucia ran out and supported Trish's head. Yuna ran down and checked her pulse. Yuna cast a healing spell and Trish's eyes fluttered open as they watched her bones, cartilage, tendons, a the rest of her shoulder regenerate.


	10. The Queen

Chapter 10: The Queen

The queen screamed, her xenomorph servants exiting the hive, preparing to overwhelm the enemies. As a final act as Queen, as she knew, she tore herself from the egg-laying sack. She ran out of the hive, following the other xenomorphs on the rampage across the calm lands. She squalled as they ran toward the humans. Due to her towering height, she could see them turning to see the approaching onslaught. Instead of scattering and trying to outrun the creatures, they turned around and drew weapons.

Trish, Dante, Roland and Yuna drew their handguns and spread out, taking aim at strategic targets. Seig, Victor, Jool Noret, Rikku, Lucia, and Tidus drew swords of some sort. Lenne prepared to heal any of them. The xenomorphs stopped short and stood, watching the humans, prepared for action. The humans noted the hulking one in the rear of the column. Jool screamed, raising his blade; the Gunslinger and other ranged weapon wielders fired a volley straight for the front row. Acid splattered, and the casualty counted was started and doubled in an instant. The xenomorphs charged.

Seig summoned his Guilt legion, his most powerful, seeing as Thanatos hadn't fully grown yet. Trish fired round after round, stripping skin off of the xenomorphs' bodies. Dante drew both Ifrit and the twins, Agni and Rudra, and charged forward. Yuna fired her guns until they were empty, holstered them, and summoned Ixion, the lightning unicorn aeon. She jumped astride its back and charged at the creatures. Tidus Lunged at a xenomorph, and another one tackles him midair, pins him, and began to slash at his arms and chest. In desperate rage, he stabbed upward with Brotherhood, his blade, and twisted it once it slid between the ribcage. Yuna yelled, "Shit!" as she saw the predicament that Tidus was in. She then got an idea, and whispered a prayer to Yevon.

The xenomorph that was straddling Tidus froze, and began to glow. Yuna yelled, "Get away from it, I am sealing its soul. It will become an aeon." Tidus understood and removed his blade from the creature's side. Tidus got out from under it and ran to Lenne where she healed him and he stayed with her to protect her. Dante, of course, was dealing immense amounts of damage to the group of xenomorphs. Trish holstered her guns and drew… nothing! What the hell? She thought as she remembered Dante keeping Sparda after the sparring match. "SHIT!" she yelled. Oh…. She thought as she double jumped over a charging xenomorph. She Devil Triggered and threw multiple Divine Beams across the battlefield. The xenomorph the 'Beams touched disintegrated, no matter how much they touched them. She changed back to a human and fell to the ground, pistols blazing.

The battle dragged on for twenty minutes before the queen was close enough to fight. By that time she had only three warriors left, and they were guards meant to defend her, not fight humans that outnumbered them on an open plain. Dante kept his weapons out, wanting to prove himself. Yuna dismissed Ixion and pulled back to the area that Tidus and Lenne had been the entire fight. Trish and Lucia ran up until they were on either side of Dante and said, "You will need us." Dante look at one and then the other and then forward at the oncoming queen. He nodded and sighed. He plunged Agni into the ground and pulled Sparda off of his back. "Here" he said, giving Trish the sword that had saved humanity. He lifted Agni and grinned the fireman's grin, the grin of seeing too many battles. Guy Montag would know this grin well, for he wore it to his death.

The queen cried out and six gunshots rang out. The .45s struck home, launched from the trusty age-old guns. Revolvers with sandalwood grips. The revolvers, already smoking, were only half empty. The queen was looking at him, and he gave the three enough time to get a volley of slashes in before he emptied the revolvers on it. Then, they were on their own.

The queen reared back and the three combatants rushed it, blades drawn. They DTed and began to slash. Acid splattered everywhere, but they were immune to it in their Devil Trigger state. After the queen regained her balance she swung her tail at the three in a not-so-feeble attempt. Trish and Dante jumped over and began to attack again as it collided with Lucia. It hit her with a sickening sound thump that launched her forty feet, where she came in contact with the canyon wall. Yuna can't heal a crushed skull, and she was never going to survive this. Not that anyone had time to help her. Dante backed away from the thing as Trish distracted it. He ran to where they were camping for the time being. Trish's DT ran out, yet she wielded Sparda as vigorously as ever. Dante reached his bedroll and pulled out a gun that none of them had ever seen before. He took aim… and fired a huge shell from Spiral, the huge rifle that he had found while in pursuit of his brother Virgil. Of course, Virgil had slipped through his fingers, but he had gotten a few weapons out of it.

The shell moved at super sonic speeds, and Trish had just enough time to accidentally get in the way. The queen had begun a thrust with her tail, and she would have missed, had Trish not moved into the line of both weapons. The bullet and tail struck at the same time, and they cut an enormous hole through her torso. She gasped, spittle dripping down her chin, as the two projectiles hit each other, in a chain reaction detonating the creature's tail as it exited through Trish's back. Trish fell to the ground and the Queen fell backwards, as astonished as the rest of them. Dante took another shot, and took off the creature's head. The creatures twitched for about three minutes before settling into its final resting place.


	11. Vorian

Chapter 11: Vorian

Vorian Atriedes sighed. He had thought he was done, that the time of Omnius and the Titans was over. But then he stumbled upon the door. He went searching for Abulurd Harkonnen, possibly to repair or further destroy their tarnished fellowship. Well, screw that plan. Vor said distractedly to himself as he watched Omnius' combat meks pour out of the three buildings. It as in a canyon, so that it was easy to protect. There was a spire in the center of this place, and around it stood many anti-air turrets. Then the three production facilities were built around it, like ripples in a lake. Around those were turrets, mostly anti-infantry with a few scattered Anti-air turrets. And outside of the final ring stood hundreds of assault meks grouping for an attack.

Vor spied a small group of specks traveling toward the base, unwittingly. Oh no! They aren't massing for an attack! A defense! But, why so big a force for such a small force? T-that must be Noret's group! Vor sighed again and went back to where he had landed the 'Dream Voyager', his old update ship. He went in and came out several minutes later carrying two large briefcases. He went back in and got two more. He set them on an external foldout bench that was on the ship and opened each one. In one was a large lasgun, broken down for storage. In the next were an assortment of five different model maula pistols and two repeating ones, not quite fully automatic. In the next housed a pulse sword and several pulse grenades, and in the final one were an atomic warhead, and a bunch of grenade style stone-burners, atomic weapon that could be set as to the size of the blast radius. Vor looked over the assortment of weapons and sighed again.

The day after they had buried both Trish and Lucia, the group had moved on. They seemed to be heading on a backwards version of Yuna's pilgrimage. Not that that was discussed. Eight years seemed to destroy her conquest and cut it down into nothing more than a historical fact. No one remembered the fear they had lived through, let alone the lost ones. But that doesn't matter. Dante seemed in a daze and Roland walked behind him, trying to think of something to say. He had never been good with words, so he let the matter lie. Roland felt a great respect for the man who used two pistols, big ones, and a huge broadsword, yet smaller than a claymore.

Tidus had found a claymore inside a cave that he went exploring before the fight with the queen. He had quietly asked Jool Noret to teach him how to use it, yet Noret turned him away with a violent, strong worded explanation about how he would train no dimwitted moron who came to him, knowing that Tidus had absolutely no skill with a blade, and even less with a gun. Though he seemed to be good with large stones and pulse grenades, he remained completely useless. Then he went to Dante and was taught a few things, like Stinger, a three hit combo, and a diagonal fake-out slash that turns into a spine crushing vertical slash. Tidus slept easily that night and practiced that which he had learned the next day.

The group came within sight of the machine camp, but they did not get attacked, until they saw a small squad of cymeks approaching. Noret tightened his gripped on his pulse sword, and Dante sighed. "Leave them to me." He said quietly. "But watch our flanks for a trap." Dante walked forward, hands behind his head, fingers interlaced in a cocky who-gives-a-shit walk. The machines stopped and readied their combat systems. He surveyed the group and sent his left foot kicking backwards, launching his sword up. As it spun, he pulled leather, hauling his pistols out as fast as he could and began to shoot, aiming for joints and gun barrels, to fuck their weapons up, he thought. He holstered his guns and caught Rebellion, darting forward, performing a stinger on the nearest one still active. It fell back and then succumbed to a spinning slash. Dante Dted and rampaged on the rest until they fell defeated. When he turned, he saw the massive force that had surrounded his group.


	12. Vorian to the rescue Hopefully

Chapter 12: Vor to the rescue… Hopefully

Red. Everything was red. Walter… Stephen… Mordred… Virgil… all red. The chickens. The sword. Claymore. It glowed the red of fire, yet with the undertone of gold. Golden hell. The blade would glow, and serve its purpose.

Roland looked around, scanning the surrounding forces with bombardier's eyes. His fully loaded guns were holstered, and he didn't reach for them, because for one he didn't want to alert the machines into an early attack, let alone the fact that should he need to, Roland could pull leather and fire off twelve shots before the Machines could get a damned lock on him. And Jool Noret, brilliant with all weapons, especially so with a sword designed to disable such machines, was a definite asset. Victor and his father were alright swordsmen, although Roland didn't trust the blade that Tidus chose to wield. There was just something… Red about it. And he hated it.

Jool cried out and chucked a pulse grenade. About seventeen of the overwhelming force fell, yet they were easily replaced. Noret grunted and jumped forward to slash out with his pulse sword. He dug into the crowd, and the humans thought that they were on their own. Roland yelled, "HILE! GUNSLINGERS, TO ME!" The rest cried and lashed out whilst Yuna summoned Ifrit to plunge the machines into the abyss. Rikku calmly breathed and closed her eyes. Seconds later her hair began to rise, static electricity rushed between strands. Her eyes opened and for a brief second her eyes glinted an electric blue. Rikku sneered as she release the sub-atomic psychic blast at a random column of cymeks.

Vorian, hauling the two repeating maula pistols, the grenades, the warhead, and the lasgun, took the mobile suspensor lift and rode down the steep cliff, undetected until he was within fifty feet of the spire, and the anti-air turrets turned toward him. Missiles would have come next, had Vorian not blasted them with the lasgun. Now he cascaded to the ground undisturbed. He stopped the suspensor and ran out towards the spire. The familiar voice of Omnius called out, "Vor-Vorian! Wait, stop! I COMMAND YOU!"

Vorian was already setting the warhead. Then h ran like hall to help the other humans.

Roland fired round after round, his fingers doing that old reloading trick, and then a bullet of a huge caliber slammed into his arm, tearing through his bicep. It would have been alright then, had it stopped there. Yet the bullet continued, breaking two ribs and then exiting his system. He froze, stunned. His guns fell to the ground, as did the shells in his hand. Then he fell facedown onto the ground.

Dante saw this and screamed, swinging rebellion around like a bludgeon, not a sword, and forgetting all sense of anything except: attack. There was no friend to watch out for, only foe. Then Dante turned just quickly enough to see Tidus use stinger on a cymek, and quite literally saved Dante. Dante single jumped into the air, and was enveloped in a flash of light. When the light subsided, Dante's true form, Ultimate Devil Trigger, flew up, and looked down upon the battlefield. The fire burned in his eyes, and then he threw fireballs, hundreds of them, across the arena. Ifrit and Dante exterminated the force, yet not without consequence. Roland, lay on the ground, muttering to himself like Eddie. All those years ago, when they had saved the beam, Roland had lost a man dear to his heart, and the man had called him father. And he had lost a boy twice, named Jake, and he had called him father. How many would Roland's quest forsake? How many?

Dante came to Roland's side after the transformation was complete. "Roland!" Dante cried out, as the Gunslinger rolled over onto his back. The gunslinger surveyed the arena and choked out, "It is over, then. I never saw it before I reached the … clear-clearing." The gunslinger gripped Dante's hand.

"No, Roland. Your soul and mind remain. I will carry you in my body, I will take you to your damned tower." He choked out, staring into the man's eyes, tears welling up within his own. Roland nodded and closed his eyes. The two began to shimmer, and the same white light enveloped them both. When the light subsided, Roland was gone, yet Dante sat crouched, holding his hand out to nothing. He stood and pulled out his pistols, skocked at the difference. Instead of the names of each, the sigul carved into the tomb of the Eld was carved into each barrel. The grips were replaced with revolver grips, and revolver cylinders, yet knew that the same magical enchantment was still in play. No reloading. The guns were revamped.

_A man came running to Dante. The man was very out of breath, and Dante surveyed him with the clarity of a gunslinger. "I-" The man said, cut off by an atomic explosion._


End file.
